‘Black Mass’ Director Scott Cooper To Helm Bourne-Esque ‘White Knight’

With Jason Bourne set to return to cinemas next year, and the “Mission: Impossible” and James Bond franchises still going strong, perhaps it’s not a surprise that rival studios are looking to launch their own secret agent series. And while Warner Bros. missed with “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” this summer, they’ve got another project with potential in the pipeline.

Deadline reports that “Black Mass” director Scott Cooper will rewrite and direct “White Knight” for WB, which they hope will launch a franchise. Originally penned by Bill Dubuque (“The Judge,” the upcoming “The Accountant” starring Ben Affleck), the familiar-sounding story follows a Secret Service agent who falls out with his employers, and becomes the target of a global manhunt after taking a gig protecting the family of an arms dealer.

Cooper has quite a few directorial irons in the fire, and tends to attract great talent to work with him, so it will be interesting to see who he and the studio can wrangle for this effort. For now, however, Cooper will be seeing how “Black Mass” fares in the weeks leading up to the Oscar nominations in January.